Here's your behind the scenes look at the creatures from the Netflix fantasy series Avatar: The Last Airbender season 1.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast:
Gordon Cormier, Dallas Liu, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
Stream Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 now on Netflix!
Avatar: The Last Airbender Cast:
Gordon Cormier, Dallas Liu, Kiawentiio, Ian Ousley, Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
Stream Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 1 now on Netflix!
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TVTranscript
00:00 We could go another way.
00:01 You're not serious.
00:03 The creatures immerse you into the world that is Avatar.
00:07 There's no way you're getting me on that!
00:09 In the Avatar universe, almost all animals are hybrid creatures.
00:19 -Otter penguin. -Shark squids.
00:21 -Sky bison. -A winged lemur!
00:23 -Magimal. -It's a fun detail that fans really love,
00:26 that I really love.
00:28 So we started with imagery from the animated series and said,
00:31 "OK, what are real-world representations of these visual ideas?"
00:35 And from there, built this library of visual information and language
00:39 that we would then use to inform the physical and the digital builds
00:43 of all the creatures.
00:44 -Appa! -Appa?
00:46 He is my best friend.
00:49 -Sorry, Katara. -Yip-yip!
00:51 On screen, Appa is a flying ten-ton bison.
00:55 Off screen, he is half-back on a mechanical bull,
01:00 controlled by people to make him seem like he's moving.
01:04 I've had some of my best days on Appa.
01:06 It feels like you're flying through the air, which is a childhood dream.
01:09 And action!
01:10 We tried to keep as much live action as possible.
01:13 One thing we wanted to stay true to is the silhouette of Appa as he's flying.
01:18 So we used a manatee with a tail
01:21 because of the way the manatee swims in the water.
01:24 And then also we looked at the buffalo for the eyes and for the horn.
01:29 And on set, we had a full-size Appa head, but it has no emotion to it.
01:34 Gordon did an amazing job just relating to this thing.
01:37 And our VFX team did an amazing job of bringing that emotion
01:41 to the character of Appa, so it matches with what Aang is doing in the scene.
01:45 You wanna join us, Momo?
01:48 Momo is our very cute winged lemur who loves food.
01:54 And has some great banter with Sokka.
01:56 Bet you taste like chicken.
01:58 One of the biggest challenges with Momo was taking this creature
02:02 that I love the animated version of and making it feel real.
02:05 So we referenced a lot of different lemurs and monkeys for performance
02:10 because we didn't want to lose all that personality.
02:12 We worked on his eye sizes,
02:14 because it's all about how emotive Momo can be.
02:17 We have a little furry ball that we used for reference,
02:20 but the actors are acting with nothing else there,
02:23 and Momo is completely created in the computer.
02:25 Badger Mole!
02:29 The Badger Mole, in our world, just a tennis ball,
02:31 but Gawandeo and Ian did an amazing job.
02:34 For the Badger Mole, we wound up going over to the bear,
02:39 because that would help us with the weight.
02:41 And also his mouth, because his mouth gets really close to camera.
02:44 And we really wanted to articulate his mouth to make sure it was believable,
02:48 even for the gradation in his teeth, which was really fun.
02:52 The ostrich horse on set is actually a stunt vehicle,
02:56 and there's a stunt driver underneath our actors that are on top of a saddle.
03:00 Ostrich horses are ridiculously cool.
03:03 They have frenetic movements, but then also when he's walking,
03:06 he needs to be pristine, but it needs to also have weight and feel heavy.
03:10 It's fun getting to see the world of the Avatar come to life.
03:17 I hope that fans will be super excited when they see it.
03:21 Like, "Oh, my God, no way!"
03:22 That is one big birdie.
03:24 Audiences will love the characters, the emotional journey,
03:27 the storyline, the epic action, the humor.
03:30 Please tell me that he's saying, "Welcome, friends."
03:32 That's not what it's saying.
03:33 But I have a feeling they're gonna love Appa the most.
03:38 Or Momo.
03:40 One of the two. That's what they always say.
03:42 Don't worry, kid. You don't have to do this alone.
03:46 You have me, Tara, and a flying ball of fur.
03:52 What more do you need?
03:53 Really?
03:57 [laughing]
03:58 [music playing]
03:59 [music playing]
04:01 [music playing]
04:02 [music playing]
04:03 (dramatic music)
04:06 (dramatic music)